This years cooking goals . . .

[vfem]

I forgot to add, I also plan on coming up with a pillsbury recipe that will win me $1 Million Dollars!

 

[feathersnuggles]

I love making sauerkraut! I make a few quarts at a time. That way I can eat it, without having to find a way to store it, and possibly heating all the good probiotics out of it. Here's a recipe I follow. I weigh my cabbage head(s) at the store, make a note of how many pounds... then I do the "salt math" at home. It's easy; basically cabbage and salt, but you can add a few caraway seeds to the recipe, if you want:

http://www.wildfermentation.com/resources.php?page=sauerkraut

My goal this year is to learn to make pickled fish and other strange ferments.

 

[Kim_NC]

Quote:
Would you like to share any no-knead recipes? I started a thread here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=411027&p=1

ETA: Forgot the OP. I'm working on learning more about brining/smoking meats this year, plus trying more sausage recipes and techniques. DH & I have a selection of recipes and methods to try.

I've also thought about cheesemaking and soap making. We'll see....depends on time.

Do you have Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman? It's pretty well-done. Great info as well as recipes.

I'll check out the other thread.

No, I don't have it. But Thanks...it looks fabulous. I may have to get a copy!

 

[HEChicken]

Hi Katy, I said I would update you once I had actually canned a batch in my pressure canner, so here goes. I've actually done two batches now. The first was so-so. It turned out okay and I wound up with 4 quarts of pea soup to put away. There were some things that weren't explained in the books that took me by surprise - like how long it takes to get up to pressure, how long it takes to cool down etc., but it mostly went smoothly. I am using a glass cooktop and the canner looked so big I thought it would take forever to heat the water if I didn't have it on high. One of those learning things. What happened is I had it on high until it was up to pressure, then turned it to medium. For the next hour and a half I constantly adjusted the temperature as the pressure went up and down, trying to get it to stabilize (and never actually succeeding). The whole thing was stressful enough I started to second guess my decision to get the canner, but having outlaid the money on it I couldn't let it be a once only thing, so forced myself to try again today.

The second time went so much more smoothly I'm now able to see myself actually getting some use out of this thing as the year goes on

I had some chicken stock to can and filled up the canner by canning some dried beans (so they'll be convenient to use without having to think ahead by a day). This time I started with the temperature on a medium setting, and boiled water in my kettle, so the canner didn't take so long to get up to temp. At my altitude I'm looking for 11 pounds PSI, so when it reached 7-8, I turned it down a notch. At 10 I turned it down another half notch. It reached about 11.5 and stayed there for the whole 75 minutes! It was so awesome (yes, it doesn't take much to get me excited). Best of all, once it cooled and I took the jars out, I found they had all sealed (they all did the first time too so I've been lucky) and I now have 3 pints of chicken stock, 2 pints of black beans and 3 pints of frijo beans to put in the pantry. All told, it was a very calm experience and I didn't feel stressed at all so I'm glad I tried again.

 

[kfchickenlady]

thanks, this will be a help to me, I plan to get one of these this year.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

THANK YOU!!!
That will be a huge help here shortly, I HATE those stressfull moments!

 

[Kim_NC]

Way to go, HEChicken! Congrats on hanging in there and giving it a 2nd try. A whole new world of canned delights awaits you now.

 

[newlyweds]

Hmm good idea katy,
I want to get back to eating at home more, I do want to make homemade kolaches that I will learn from my neighbor.

I have tried sauerkraut and had a huge failure with it, just make sure you have the proper crock for it.

That's all I can think of for now.

 

[BarefootMom]

Quote:
What kind of cheese are you going to make? I made colby last Saturday and it is a lot of work but it turned out awesome. Will be making more this week. My sister makes cottage cheese, ricotta, and mozarella which I plan on making soon. You will need a cheese press for colby and other hard cheeses though. I ordered mine off of ebay for $70 and it included starter culture and the rennet tablets and the cheesecloth.


If you check out my blog you can see that I have been trying lots of new things this year-cheese, pretzels, meringue pies, cinnamon rolls, bread...(we haven't bought store bought bread since the first part of January!!) I am not sure what I want to make next but I just bought a new set of Stainless Steel pans (that I love!!) and will soon be buying a new kitchenaid mixer!! I would skip the bread machine if it were me, they take up a lot of space and bread is not that hard to make without one. I think one of my goals will to be buying a springform pan and making cheesecakes. My cousin's new wife makes the prettiest cheesecakes and I am jealous

Oh and once I get my mixer I will be making butter and other things! I can't wait!!

I have a pressure cooker but have only used it 2 times in the 3 years that I have owned it. It seems to be more of a pain, but maybe you will like it more. I used it to can green beans- the first time I used it I couldn't get the lid off for three days! It discouraged me and DH doesn't like green beans that much anyway. I mostly hot water bath can and if there is anything that needs to be pressure canned my mom does it for me since she has a good pressure canner. She has one that the top screw down- not the presto kind.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

Quote:
thanks! I did get the proper crock, first batch is great, but a little too dry and I'm still not sure how to "preserve" it. You should try it again it was really quite simple, and my German husband has declared it "the best ever"